The APSU Compensation Ad hoc Committee (Appendix A), hereafter referred to as the
Ad hoc Committee, was first convened in Spring 2014 and charged with helping the University
plan for and prepare a new compensation plan for all faculty, support, professional
and administrative employees of the University. The Ad hoc Committee met regularly
to discuss concerns related to compensation and to solicit comments and ideas from
the broad campus community through interactions with the Faculty Senate and Staff
Senate and through various forums, and since then, the administration has occasionally
convened an ad hoc committee to consider pertinent compensation issues. Last year,
the Ad hoc Committee and APSU Senior Leadership Group (Appendix A), and President
White reviewed the current compensation plan which was adopted in 2011 upon approval
by the Tennessee Board of Regents, as well as information provided by an outside consultant.
The document presented here incorporates information gathered from all of the above
mentioned sources and provides a framework regarding Austin Peay State University
employees’ position in the salary market and the principles that will help guide decision
making on annual compensation growth.

Discussion related to the former compensation plan revealed many concerns. Among those
were:

The design of the plan was complicated and difficult for employees to understand

The design of the plan was rigid and did not allow the University to respond to market
changes in a timely manner

Salary data within the professional and support pay grades was outdated

Professional pay grades were not representative of the current employment market

It was determined that the basic principles that should guide decision making are
as follows:

Historically, funding for compensation growth has come from increasing the cost of
tuition, enrollment growth, increases in state appropriations or from other revenue
growth (e.g., development, grants, investments, etc.). Nationally, state appropriations
are becoming a smaller percentage of university operating budgets. In addition, APSU
recognizes its obligation to control tuition cost so that a college degree and its
benefits are accessible. Therefore, APSU cannot depend only on these sources to solve
compensation challenges.

To meet these challenges, APSU must rely on the broader strategy of enrollment growth
enumerated in the APSU Strategic Plan 2015-2025. Achievement of the targets outlined
in this Compensation Plan is inextricably linked and dependent upon accomplishing
enrollment and revenue goals within the timelines established in the APSU Strategic
Plan. Declining enrollment, reductions in state appropriations, or forced restraint
on normal tuition cost growth are all barriers to APSU achieving the goals set out
in this Compensation Plan.

Definitions

CIP: Classification of Instructional Programs is a taxonomic coding scheme of instructional
programs. Faculty classification by CIP codes are used to correlate APSU faculty with
the peer group salary data of faculty in the same CIP code.

Peer Comparators: A collection of institutions considered relatively equivalent to
Austin Peay in terms of University mission, Carnegie classification and enrollment.

Market Adjustment: Salary adjustments applied to mitigate salary differences between
the Austin Peay employee and their market comparison group. APSU has historically
used the term “equity” to define these types of adjustments.

Market Point: A metric describing an Austin Peay employee’s salary according to his
or her market comparison group and time in position. This metric is used as a benchmark
to assist in making decisions about the allocation of the salary pool.

Salary Pool: The available “recurring” funds that may be used for salary adjustments.
It is important to differentiate between “one-time” versus “recurring” funds. For
example, performance funding and large donor gifts are not dependable sources of funding
that can be used to support increases in base salaries.

Market data

Because APSU hires faculty and staff from a broad geographic area, salary data will
be obtained from CUPA-HR or other sources using the peer comparators found in Appendix
B. If salary data is not available for a position using the peer comparators, data
may be obtained from a larger sample of institutions. Local market pricing, including
Nashville, had been accounted for in the prior support staff pay ranges. The peer
comparators used to obtain CUPA data are predominantly from markets smaller than Nashville.
This results in lower salary medians that do not reflect the local salary market for
support staff positions. Therefore, a “hold harmless” approach will be taken with
regard to support staff salary medians, i.e., support staff salary medians will not
be lowered based upon the change in CUPA comparators. The medians in effect for each
position prior to the change to CUPA comparators, adjusted annually for increases
to the cost of living, will be used until such a time that the salary medians are
reflective of the local labor market. Faculty data will be obtained for the appropriate
rank using CIP codes established by Academic Affairs. On July 1 of each year, new
data will be applied to all filled positions. Salaries will be compared to the new
market data. Any salary falling below the campus minimum or the entry point for the
position will be considered for adjustment as funds become available.

Salary Comparison Group/Peer Comparators

The peer comparators identified in the previous compensation plan were selected using
criteria such as: enrollment, tuition and Carnegie Classification. Peer comparators
that were not in alignment with at least two criteria have been dropped. The proposed
peer comparators are listed in Appendix B, and the additions and deletions are listed
in Appendix C.

Hiring salaries

Managers will be responsible for negotiating a fair and market-based salary for new
employees, in consultation with the unit head, i.e., vice president, executive director.
Human Resources will provide a hiring range for new employees, which is defined as
the range between the entry point (25% below the market median) and the market median
for the position. Managers will consider market data, years of experience, unique
and highly qualified skill sets, budgetary constraints and inversion and compression
issues. When negotiating a salary offer, if a manager determines that conditions
warrant a salary offer above the market median he or she may request an exception
from the unit head.

Salary adjustments

APSU will prioritize annual salary adjustments, consisting of market adjustments and
performance adjustments, as the critical milestones of growth identified in the Strategic
Plan 2015-2025 are reached. The primary objective is to achieve the salary median
for each position. Funds may be applied as either, or a combination of, market adjustments
or performance adjustments. The goal of market adjustments will be to reposition an
employee or group of employees to a more positive placement in the salary market.
The goal of performance adjustments will be to reward positive job performance demonstrated
through evidence presented by managers. The President’s Council, with input from Faculty
and Staff Senate leadership, will provide recommendations to the President when allocating
available funds. In making recommendations, the President’s Council will consider
the following institutional values:

Ensuring that all salaries are at or exceed the living wage

Addressing inversion and compression issues

Providing performance adjustments to employees when appropriate

These values will be prioritized based on the needs of the university.

The pool of salary funds available for performance adjustments will be proportionally
allocated to managers. Employees who are on probation or who have documented evidence
of unsatisfactory performance will not be eligible for salary increases.